Debbie, 55, said his illness is in the slow-growing stages right now. But that could change.

“It can turn on a dime to being aggressive,” Debbie said, fighting back tears. She said he wants to live to see their 7-month-old grandson, Wesley Van Scyoc, grow up. “It hurts to think about the possibility of Wesley not knowing his grandpa,” she said.

Taking action: As president of the human services technology club at Gaston College, Debbie helps plan community service projects. She recently brought up the idea of a bone marrow registry drive. Club members ran with it. Now two local events are in the works.

To see if a potential donor is compatible with someone facing a life-threatening illness, a cotton swab is used to collect DNA from inside the prospective donor’s mouth. The sample then goes to the Be The Match Registry, where Tom’s DNA is on the list, awaiting a match.

Debbie, 55, said his illness is in the slow-growing stages right now. But that could change.

“It can turn on a dime to being aggressive,” Debbie said, fighting back tears. She said he wants to live to see their 7-month-old grandson, Wesley Van Scyoc, grow up. “It hurts to think about the possibility of Wesley not knowing his grandpa,” she said.

Taking action: As president of the human services technology club at Gaston College, Debbie helps plan community service projects. She recently brought up the idea of a bone marrow registry drive. Club members ran with it. Now two local events are in the works.

To see if a potential donor is compatible with someone facing a life-threatening illness, a cotton swab is used to collect DNA from inside the prospective donor’s mouth. The sample then goes to the Be The Match Registry, where Tom’s DNA is on the list, awaiting a match.

Be The Match is a nonprofit organization scanning DNA samples nationwide in hopes of finding compatible bone marrow matches for patients with chronic illness. So far, a match for Tom hasn’t emerged. Debbie has been told his chances are 1 in 200,000.

But moral support from members of the technology club helps. “Sometimes it’s overwhelming, especially when you’re having a meltdown. I’ve had a lot lately,” she said.